'As each clue is found the past inhabitant’s tragic story unfolds for us, Douglas Henshall steals these scenes' - Mail on Sunday April 15th 2007.
In this two-parter young couple Ian and Karen O'Rourke (Ben Miles and Neve McIntosh) decide to move to the wilds of Scotland to try and make a new start after a personal tragedy by turning a remote and derelict country house into a hotel. But as they work on their dream home, they discover strange mystical symbols painted on the floorboards.
When Karen becomes convinced that the place is haunted, the couple call on Douglas Monaghan (Bill Paterson) who reveals that it’s where a psychic called Robert Dunbar (played by Douglas Henshall ) and his wife Mary (Christine Bottomley) started an occult group in 1897.
Robert Dunbar is a leader of a Victorian cult called the Golden Dawn and his story is told in flashback. Robert Dunbar becomes involved with the group, The Golden Dawn, when he discovers his wife Mary is dying.
The more Monaghan investigates, the more uneasy he becomes. It appears Dunbar has conjured up evil spirits in a wicked plan. Records show he was hanged for murdering his wife and has been dead for over 100 years – or has he? One thing is clear – the house is haunted, Dunbar's spirit is restless and as Monaghan investigates the history of the house, he discovers that Karen is in genuine danger from the spirit of Robert Dunbar.
Of his role as Dunbar, Douglas Henshall states, "My take on Dunbar is that he's a man who can't or won't accept that his wife is dying. He has a power to stop that from happening so he's going to do anything he can to stop it and his morality just goes flying out the window. He's a decent man who makes the wrong choice, or a few wrong choices.So essentially he's a villain but I don't think he's necessarily a bad man."
Gallery
Links and articles and interviews:
BBC Press office
Ouija Board Games left me scared for life - interview with Douglas Henshall - the Sunday Mail -April 15th 2007
Knock Knock, who's There - Article from The times - April 14th 2007
Ghouls Aloud - April 2007
I Don't Believe in Ghosts - Interview with Bill Paterson - April 2007
High Spirits - interview with Bill Paterson - April 2007
Reviews:
Review from The Herald - April 18th 2007
Review from The Mail on Sunday - April 15th 2007
Barely a Soul in Sight - Living Scotsman - April 14th 2007